Description

Pictured is the Gymnasium at the Rumford Mechanics Institute. The Institute which was conceived and created by Hugh J. Chisholm, the founder of the Oxford Paper Company, to provide a recreation and educational center for the people of the community. Most of the working population in Rumford was employed by Chisholm's company at the turn of the century.

This image comes from a "Mechanics Institute, Rumford, Maine" booklet handed out on November 9, 1911, at the ribbon cutting for the new building. It was published by University Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts.